No abstract

The concept of internal control is just as relevant to churches as it is to profit seeking organizations. Inadequate internal controls can hinder the management responsibilities of church officers and employees and place them in a position where they may be tempted to engage in questionable activities and accounting practices, or could subject individuals to unwarranted accusations of such activities. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of church size as well as the polity and hierarchical structure of denominations on systems of internal control. A questionnaire was used to collect data regarding internal controls currently in place in churches. The internal control evaluation scores were found to be significantly different based on church size. Three major denominations with different types of church polity and differing hierarchical structures were included in the study. The internal control evaluation scores were found to be significantly different based on denomination. This suggests that the polity and hierarchical structure of a denomination affect the quality of a local church's system of internal control.

This research applies the impression management theory of exemplification in an accounting study by identifying and measuring differences in both auditor and public perceptions of exemplary behaviors. The auditors were divided into two groups, one of which reported self-perceptions (A-S) while the other group reported their perceptions of a typical auditor (A-O). There were two separate public groups, which gave their perceptions of a typical auditor and were divided based on their levels of accounting sophistication. The more sophisticated public group was comprised of bank loan officers (LO) while the less sophisticated public group consisted of investment club members (IC). Comparisons were made on 30 behaviors contained in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, which served as the basis for the research instrument. Profile analysis, a special form of MANOVA technique, was used to analyze the results. A-S perceptions were the highest of the four treatment levels and were significantly higher (i.e., more exemplary) than the perceptions of both the A-O and LO groups. The more sophisticated user group (LO) provided the lowest perceptions of the four treatment levels. For at least four of the six measures, the LO treatment group perceived the typical auditor to be less exemplary than both the IC and A-O treatments. There were no differences in perceptions between the A-O group and IC. Additional analysis revealed that auditors overrated the degree to which the public relied on financial statements. However, both public groups reported a reasonably high level of reliance on financial statements when making decisions. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007accounting code of ethics, professional conduct, impression management, exemplification,

Researchers have conjectured that accounting standards decrease the rate at which clients change auditors. They argue that conflict caused by disagreements over accounting standards is reduced because there are fewer acceptable accounting principles. Surprisingly, there is little empirical evidence that investigates the impact of accounting standards on audit rm switch rates. This study investigates the relationship between accounting standards and audit rm switch rates. The paper presents surprising evidence that in the year of enactment, accounting standards cause clients to change auditors at a faster rate. This nding supports the idea that con ict is created over the implementation of the standard which results in a client changing auditors. The paper also supports traditional thought by presenting evidence that in years following the issuance of an accounting standard clients change auditors at slower rates. This nding supports the idea that con ict will be reduced in future years because there are fewer acceptable accounting principles on which an auditor and a client can disagree. Data Availability: Data are available from sources identi ed in the text.

Although the concept of internal control is as relevant to